Grimshade reaches Kickstarter goal

Explore a varied and intricate world, meet new characters and uncover secrets.

Grimshade is a story-driven RPG set in a fantasy world, featuring a turn-based combat system and non-linear gameplay. The Kickstarter campaign target of £75,000 has just been exceeded, and developers Talerock have released a slew of new details on the combat system.

Battles take place on a battlefield, which is split into two parts that are 3×4 cells in size each. Each side belongs to either the player or the opponent, and movement to the other side is restricted. Battle is turn-based, and each turn is based on the conditional turn-based battle system, or CTB. The position on the CTB scale before the start of battle is determined by the actions of each character. During battle, each character uses skills, which are tied to the speed indicator. Any action—be it moving, waiting, or using a skill—spends a certain amount of speed and moves a unit on the CTB scale by this amount.

The skills of the characters and monsters are determined by which row on the battlefield they are in, and on which row of the opposite battlefield they are acting on. Therefore, skills that move enemies on the battlefield are highly valued. For example, you move an archer to the first row. What will that do? First, he can be attacked by melee units. Second, the archer won’t be able to shoot arrows at point-blank range. Other control skills can take a unit’s ability to move away or change his position on the CTB scale.

Each unit in the game has two indicators: HP and tension. They (or one of them) determine the damage of each skill. With HP, everything is simple—if the indicator falls to zero, the unit dies. Tension knocks out monsters, pushing them back on the CTB scale. It’s a bit more difficult with characters because the mechanics of game characters are attached to tension. For example, Alister should be calm in combat, but high tension prevents him from using skills. Ruby is the opposite, though: the higher her tension, the better she fights. And if Kiba’s tension is above 50, then it changes his set of skills.

After the battle, all of the characters’ tension is reset to the base value and life is fully restored. However, during battle, any hero can get injured. A character is injured when he has very low health reserves or when he receives huge damage. Injuries reduce the basic characteristics of characters, including their damage and combat potential. You can only get rid of injuries in safe zones, but getting to one is not a simple task when you are in the middle of a hostile location.

Grimshade will be launching on Steam at the end of the year for $25, about £19.